The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1887-05-12
From Vicksburg 70 St. Louis-Across
the Praiie.
Written for the GOLD LEAF
By 4. HATCHETr-

By A. HATCHETT-
! Twas in June, 1873. just as that sconTge
Of the Southern cline, Asiatic cholera,
made its appearance i'll NicksbuR. I took
Passage from this place in that magnificent
"White Collar Line steamer, the City of
. Vicksburg," for St Louis, distance Of
/ twenty-five hundred miles up tie MisSis-
. sippi river. The boat was crowded with
+ frightened passengers, seeking to get away
/ from tie infected district, whose sad faces,
and gloomy conversation was something
novel, where rcek less hlariiy and di5re-
/ gard Of life is phenomenal. On tie second
! day when nearing Grecnville, it was whis-
! pered in the cabin cholera had broken out
among the deck hands. and that the ca
pcmter had secretly consigned several to
/ their distressing pl&c, in the muddy waters.
+ The medicine chest was brought in requi-
siton, and anything conceived to be pre-
tentative was taken, whiskey made hot
with red pepper, taking the precedence
Grcenyille was qHarantined and we were
not allowed to land. Passengers grouped
on the upper deck, cOnyersng in hushed
tones, ever and anon, could hear the dull
/ tlud Of a new victim, sent to Join his mates
with no oriSon said Or requiem sung for the
poor ''rousta bout Barely touching the
wharf boat at Helena to throw OF the
mail, a long, iarF, cadaver0us, scared
/ looking specimen Of the Maine yankee sue
ceeded in getting aboard. The fellow was
50 evidently craven, that even in the
gloom surrounding US were those who
could not resist the temptation to have some
fun at his expense: SO, when lie APP
I preached party of gentlemen standing at
tie clerks desk and congratulated himself
! upon having gotten away from Helena,
where case Of cholera was reported. he
was coolly informed we had buried ten
that morning, and there were over thirty
cases then Oh board. He turned CHASTITY
white, tainted. fell, and was taken up and
carried to state room which he never left
till we reached the l.oat's destination. Tie
shock was too great for lis nervous SYSTEM
and came near proving fatal.
The river, as usual at this season of the
year, was nearly to the top of the lcyee,
and hundreds of timber RATS We're met, on
which cabins were built, the floating home
yearly make pilgrimage down this i'll
deocribablc stream to Eicksburg, Matches,
OF New Orleans, with their poultry and
rpIgS floating along with them as we'll con-
tented as i'll the barn yard of their Western
home. The nagnifcence, the grandeur of
this stream, before which all else i'll ma
ture seems to pale at first sight, no tongue
can tell Or pen paint.
Space VIII not permit the notice of minor
interesting incidents; suffice il to say we
reached St. Louis without single death
among the cabin passengers and left the
: boat with dis little reluctance as our Maine
friend did Helena. Remaining here a
couple OF days inspecting the horses and
mules III the Immense wholesale stables
and the thousands OF cattle i'll the Broad
way Stock Yards, to which latter place |
rode on tie street cars from Carondelet
Clover st. LOUISE a distance Of twenty
miles, f0I the sum OF seven cents, [ took
the st. Louis and Kansas City road for
Mexico, town of about four thousand i'll
habltants, i'll Munroe county, one hundred
and twenty seven miles above st. Louis
right In the middle of that fine prairie
stretching from the Missouri on the South
to Salt river on the North. Mounting a
pony about an hour after my arrival i'll
Mexico, set out for the home Of nv
Western partner, Bill Bates, whose doni-
) Gle nestled i'll the tail grass some nine
miles OFT. AS cantered along under the
DiisterinS sun whose reflected rays were
almost binding, while not stream, OIL a
tree relieved the vision on that vast table
land with its ycrdant coating of tall grass.
Tor the first time i'll my life | beheld that
fowl before the beauty of which all Others,
(eVtn the peacock) sinks into after insignifi-
canoe. For the prairie chicken is not only
the taY0rite Of the taXdermist but is also
the StH6 qua non of the gourmand-a bird
indicating cross between the swift tyino
pheasant of the wild forest and the proud
strutting bantum of the home yard. with 50
little instinstiye cunning it falls an easy
prey to the practiced fowler
Teaching Bates after an hour, ride. I
Was Installed i'll my summers headuuar-
tiers, from whence was to scour the coun-
try around for the purchase of horses for
the fall market i'll the Mississippi Swamp.
Here L saw and drove a gang pillow.
resting on spring seat, with stationery
umbrella above me as | drove four fine
SteedS across quarter section, and turned
under about five acres of vegetation a day.
just here [ foresee, curtail as much as I
can, II Will be impossible to get to the
most interesting part OF what have so far
only given contracted preface, i. e, the
Grange Picnic and Bran Dance without
consuming too much space | desi,t and
! VIII continue IN next issue
True.